Jen and Dave: Adventuring

It’s not June, but there’s lots of water here (da dum ksh). Jen spotted the first whale of the trip as we approached the port, a humpback hump.

Disembarking in Juneau, we walked the waterfront, passing the tourist area as we laughed about selling the opportunity to take a photo of the big bear “present” on the dock.

Down the waterfront was a small park and a whale sculpture.

Returning to the ship for lunch, we decided on a nap, hot tubbing, and painting (Jen) and sketching (Dave) in the Crow’s Nest. A delightful dinner with a couple from Enderby, a talk on glaciers and volcanos, and then some wind down in the Crow’s Nest finished the night.

We pulled into the small port of Ketchikan on a wet but warm morning. Getting off the ship early, we explored Creek Street and marvelled at all the Pink salmon returning – and the opportunistic seals enjoying the fishy feast.

Continuing down the “married man’s path,” we watched fish go up the ladder and through the rapids.

A local park had an anthropology museum we had seen previously, but Jen always gets chills from the “Raven and the Fog Woman” pole, which she studied in Brownies.

Returning through the non-tourist part of town, we split – Jen returned to the ship for lunch, a hot shower, and some time to paint. Dave walked the waterfront the other direction, to the fisher’s wharf.

This afternoon holds art class for Jen and sketching and French practice for Dave. after dinner is the Orange party – more dancing shall ensue!

Our first sea day was cruising the inside passage, and the views were delightful. We found comfy chairs in 11 Midship to watch the world go by. Jen painted, Dave sketched: all was good.

Other activities included a talk on whales, a nap, delicious food for dressy night, and dancing the night away.

The plan was to drive the Dempster to the Arctic Ocean, but the widespread wildfires caused us to change plans. In place of that trip, Jen found a last-minute cruise on Holland America from Vancouver to Whittier, Alaska. So north we go!

We boarded at around noon, and started our trip on the Lido, at the buffet. As lunch was ending our cabin was announced as ready, and we headed there to put away our things.

First up was exploring the ship to find out what was up for offer. Then, we relaxed in the Crow’s Nest until sail away began, heading outside to wave goodbye to Vancouver and to watch as we went under the Lion’s Gate bridge.

Dinner followed, then hot tubbing on the open aft deck. The ship was doing a compass calibration before really leaving, spinning in place twice, which meant great scenery.

After a quick shower we headed to the Billboard Lounge for dualing pianos of top 100 Billboard hits before going to bed.

After returning home, we reset quickly and headed out on a camping trip with Jen’s extended family. A beautiful lake off a gravel road in the vicinity of Merritt, Jen’s family has made an annual pilgrimage since before she was born.

It was a beautiful week of swimming, floating, walking, talking, reading, playing games, and family.

One full day to get a feel for a city? We took on the challenge. First, we walked to Old Town from our hotel at Haymarket, picking up breakfast at a cafe along the way. We started by looking around the top half of High Street, part of the Royal Mile (which is actually a Scottish mile, 320 falls or 1807 meters).

We then met up with our first tour of the day, a skip-the-line tour of the Edinburgh Castle. It was fantastic, telling of some of the twenty-six sieges on the castle, which is elevated from the city on a dead volcano. We also got free time in the castle after the tour to see inside some of the buildings.

After our castle visit we went further down High Street to meet with our second tour of the day, which gave vignettes of the city’s history both above and below ground. The highlight was a trip into a rediscovered underground, and learning the stories of what it was built for, what it was used for, the fire, and them being walled off for hundreds of years.

After the second tour we found a hole-in-the-wall for a quick dinner before following the Royal Mile to Holyroodhouse Palace, which was closed as the King and Queen are currently in residence.

Our destination, however, was Holyrood Park, another old volcanic rock jutting out of the landscape. A trail goes to the summit, Arthur’s Seat. The view was fantastic from the top Thanks to Dave’s colleague Steve for the tip!

Then it was time to grab a bus back to the hotel, pack our bags, and get ready to leave for the airport at three in the morning.

Loved land of my kindred, farewell – and forever!
Oh! what can relief to the bosom impart;
When fated with each fond endearment to sever,
And hope its sweet sunshine withholds from the heart!
Farewell, thou fair land! which, till life’s pulse shall perish,
Though doom’d to forego, I shall never forget;
Wherever I wander, for thee will I cherish
The dearest regard and the deepest regret.

John Imlach (1799-1846)

An early morning walk to the ferry and it’s farewell to Arran. We enjoyed breakfast on board, along with very comfy seats.

After disembarking we caught the train to Glasgow Central, the transfer bus to Glasgow Queen, and the train to Haywood Market.

Our hotel wasn’t allowing check-in until 2 pm, so we had some time to for lunch in a local pub first. We then dropped our bags before heading to the centre of town.

Reaching the castle, we stumbled into the end of the recessional from the Coronation celebration, as King Charles received Scotland’s honours today. The regalia was a spectacle, and Jen particularly loved the Shetland pony mascot of one of the regiments. He had his own uniform!

After the recessional was a fly-past by the Red Arrows, the UK’s version of the Snowbirds. They were a real crowd-pleaser.

Dinner was in a cute Mexican street food place, and delicious. Then we retraced our steps for an early night.

After a quick breakfast we decided to spend our last day on Arran in drastically different ways. Jen would recharge in town, while Dave would charge up Goat Fell and bag the summit.

Dave climbed the well-built, well-maintained, well-marked, well-cell-serviced main route to the highest point on the island, Goat Fell. From our guest house it was a 17.7 km round trip, with the summit sitting at 850m. It was basically the Grouse Grind without a gondola at the end.

Jen’s day include repacking our bags to “travel” mode, visiting the tourist information centre, shopping, and chatting with locals over cake and coffee in the cafe, before enjoying some quiet down time in our comfortable room.

After Dave’s hike we went to a local bar for dinner, enjoying a final view of the landscape and seascape.

After a quick breakfast we hopped on a bus to Lamlash, skipping a section that gave us two options: one that was tidal, and one that climbs high into the woods. In Lamlash, we joined the coastal route.

The first stage was along the town waterfront, which had lovely views of the Holy Isle.

The next stage was a lesser-used gravel road beside the water, which made for great wildlife viewing and easy hiking.

This eventually transitioned to a farm track, then a hiking trail. You then reach a junction for a stormy weather out, and we forged ahead on a narrow single-track on the side of a bluff that was hard to follow in some places. The ferns! They were back!

Eventually the terrain levelled out, and some tidal rock-hopping quickly brought us to a secondary roadway. After a few kilometres, we then turned off into a farmer’s field. We climbed in and out of several pastures, sticking to established paths or edges of fields, per the country’s right to wander (and per the signposts stating we should go that way)!

We soon found ourselves in the edges of Brodick, and then back at the starting point. We did it our way, and we declared ourselves done!

We celebrated with pizza, blueberries, and hot showers. And plans for relaxing tomorrow.

• 94.3 km on the hike (not counting walks to dinner, etc).
• 10 days on the island
• 8 whiskeys sampled
• 7 days hiking
• 6 pieces of luggage used in various nested combinations
• 5 combined litres of water carried per day
• 4 great guest houses
• 3 species of purple flowers everywhere (foxglove, fireweed, heather)
• 2 distilleries
• 1 unforgettable adventure

Preparing for another day of hiking, we decided to make it a slightly shorter day. We were dropped off in Low Kildonan, along the water. The plan was to follow the official Inland route from here – it is best to have the cooperation of the tides to do the coastal variant, and they were not on our side.

The walk starts along a neighbourhood waterfront road in Low Kildonan. The uninhabited private island, Pladdah, adds interest to the coastline, particularly its lighthouse. Ailsa Craig towers as a pyramid on the distant horizon.

We then turned up a footpath between homes, and then through cattle and sheep pastures, climbing our way to High Kildonan.

A short ways along the road, and we turned into the footpath for Giant’s Graves. There was a picnic table at the turn, a lovely spot, so we sat for a bite to eat.

The footpath wound single-track through meadows of heather punctuated with fireweed – purple on purple amidst verdant green.

Eventually the footpath joined a deactivated industrial road – wide, graded gravel meandering along the hillside, then eventually beginning a descent after passing a deactivated quarry.

As the way wound around a corner, an expansive view came before us. One hundred eighty degrees of coastline, from bluffs to gentle slopes, from pasture to villagescapes, with the Holy Isle as a relief from a stern horizon. It was breathtaking. To our amazement, there was a lonely picnic bench perched to the side of the bend, overlooking the vastness. Best break spot of the trip.

After enjoying a leisurely break and gazing at the surf, we reluctantly continued our trek. We made good speed, and quickly came to the Giant’s Graves, two Neolithic chambered tombs (the Neolithic age was 10000 BCE to 2200 BCE).

The trail then wound down and up a glen, to Glenashdale Falls (Eas a’ Chrannaig).

The first platform revealed some very pretty falls, with a decent drop.

The second platform revealed those were just the upper, lesser falls. The full run was beautiful and had a fantastic tall, clean second drop.

After the falls it was only another three and a half kilometres back to the hotel… or, more importantly, the small store that sold ice cream and would still be open.

For the late afternoon Jen rested a bit while Dave explored the beach. A light dinner of shelf-stable provisions in the room rounded out the day.